GARDEN ORNAMENTS. 
41 
The Chinese are a people who of all others not only cultivate fine flowering 
plants, but have a pride in growing them in curious and costly porcelain vessels. 
This seems to have been a very general custom among the nations of southern and 
eastern Asia ; for in the oldest prints of pictures of oriental scenery, we often see 
represented flowering or fruiting plants placed in pots of various shapes. Vessels for 
this or any other domestic purpose were manufactured by the potter, whose art was 
one of the earliest and most useful of the primitive trades. In those countries 
which were first inhabited by mankind, many of the natural productions required 
the vessels of the potter for containing and preserving them. Milk and honey, 
wine and oil, were, with corn and dried fruit, the principal ingredients of the food 
of man in those days ; and various kinds of air and water-tight vessels for these 
viands were particularly requisite. Consequently the trade of the potter, like all 
others, advanced from rude beginnings to productions of the most elegant forms 
and exquisite workmanship. 
Nor were such vessels solely confined to domestic purposes ; they were employed 
in the most sacred ordinances, and on the most solemn occasions. Monumental urns 
were manufactured to receive and preserve the ashes of the dead ; or instead of 
books, were impressed with representations of the actions of illustrious men, or of 
memorable historical events. Ultimately, not only were the finest plastic earths 
sought for and employed in such manufactures, but the most precious metals were 
used to give durability and strength to the productions of the artist. 
In process of time these vessels ceased to be made entirely for their original use. 
Instead of vessels of capacity, they became objects of ornament, and used for the 
embellishment of both the interior and exterior of buildings of every description. 
For these purposes the sculptor took up the trade and ingenuity of the potter, 
choosing the hardest material to accommodate his employer the architect ; and the 
elegant figures which had formerly been formed of clay, were now chiselled out of 
the finest blocks of marble. 
It appears that different nations adopted different forms of these ornamental 
vessels, or vases as they are now called. Hence we have Grecian, Etruscan, and 
Oriental vases, each of which have their own characteristic ornaments in relief ; and 
though there are many varieties of each style, all are more or less elegant in out- 
line, and more or less enriched with figures of various flowers and foliage. 
Some of these are very costly ornaments, especially if they be models from the 
antique^ for these are more highly valued than any modern design, however merit- 
orious. But that the finest forms of antiquity can be chastely and correctly imi- 
tated, we have only to refer to what has been so successfully done by the ingenious 
and celebrated Wedgwood. Still, his ornamental porcelain was too delicate and 
valuable for common use, and several talented and ingenious potters, of late years, 
have produced most beautiful clay ornaments for architectural and garden purposes, 
highly admirable in design and finishing, and ever worthy the attention of those who 
would embellish their gardens at a small expense. 
VOL. V. NO. L. G 
